Department for Transport

Northern: Rolling Stock

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for passengers to be compensated for journeys made on Pacer trains which are still in service on the Northern franchise after the start of 2020.

baroness vere of norbiton: The rail industry has no scheme whereby passengers are compensated on the basis of the quality of the rolling stock provided for each journey they undertake.

Railways: Tree Felling

lord krebs: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Vere of Norbiton on 28 October (HL39), what estimate they have made of the total area, in hectares, of trackside vegetation cleared by Network Rail during the past five years.

baroness vere of norbiton: Network Rail (NR) is one of Britain’s largest landowners, responsible for 20,000 km of track and 52,000 hectares of land in its estate. Since 2016, NR has recorded operational vegetation management across 9,749 hectares. Total figures in hectares are not available for before 2016 as some vegetation management was then recorded in track miles. Vegetation management on NR’s estate includes the removal of some trees where necessary, but also periodic trimming of trees or hedges. As a responsible landowner, NR must effectively manage the natural environment on its estate. It is currently developing a biodiversity strategy that will ensure the protection and enhancement of biodiversity while still ensuring the safety and performance of the railway.

Northern Ireland Office

Social Security Benefits: Northern Ireland

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made towards meeting the requirement of section 3(21) of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019, namely that the Secretary of State must, and before 1 December, publish a report on the future welfare mitigation support measures that will be in place after March 2020, unless an Executive is formed on or before 1 December.

lord duncan of springbank: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has always been clear that he will continue to uphold the letter and the spirit of his obligations under the Northern Ireland (Executive Function etc) Act 2019 in full. That includes the obligation to report on welfare support measures in Northern Ireland. A report will therefore be published by 1 December 2019 if no Executive has been formed.

Police Service of Northern Ireland

lord hogan-howe: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessmentthey have made of the number of officers the Police Service of Northern Ireland needed to safely provide a police service for the people of Northern Ireland.

lord duncan of springbank: Policing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and operational capability is a matter for the Chief Constable. The PSNI’s main budget is allocated by the Department of Justice from the Northern Ireland block grant. The UK Government has provided the PSNI with the additional security funding it has asked for and needs to ensure that they have the resource (including officers) to tackle the SEVERE threat from Northern Ireland related terrorism. This additional security funding boosts PSNI’s ability to tackle the terrorist threat while ensuring day-to-day policing isn’t compromised. PSNI received £230m in additional security funding in the last Parliament and £160m in this one. In addition, the UK Government has, to date, provided PSNI with over £16.5m in EU Exit funding to help manage pressures and contingencies arising from ongoing EU exit preparations. This has enabled PSNI to recruit 206 additional officers this financial year.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Hydrogen: Storage

lord bourne of aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to promote hydrogen energy storage.

lord duncan of springbank: The report published on the 2nd May 2019 by our independent advisors, the Committee on Climate Change, has stressed the importance of hydrogen in achieving Net Zero, however the technologies required to produce low carbon hydrogen are not yet fully developed. BEIS, through its Energy Innovation Programme, has committed more than £40 million to accelerate:the commercialisation of large-scale hydrogen energy storage technologies; andthe development of supplying low carbon hydrogen at scale for industry, power, buildings and transport.

Fracking: Decommissioning

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the (1) requirements, (2) regulations, and (3) responsibilities, in connection with (a) the decommissioning of onshore fracking wells in particular where an operator is no longer able to carry out the necessary work, (b) monitoring of a well for any leakages or emissions, or other environmental damage following its closure and decommissioning, and (c) liabilities for any damage caused by the well after that time.

lord duncan of springbank: When operations finish at shale gas sites, the licensees are responsible for safe decommissioning of their well(s) and for restoring the well-site to its previous state or a suitable condition for re-use. As set out, in the joint Written Ministerial Statement of 17 May 2018, as a matter of policy the financial resilience of all companies looking to hydraulically fracture is now assessed, including their ability to cover decommissioning costs.Only three onshore wells have been hydraulically fractured in the UK and one of these, Cuadrilla’s site at Preese Hall, has been decommissioned and the site fully restored to its previous state. The groundwater at Preese Hall has been monitored post decommissioning in April 2015 and results have been supplied to the Environment Agency and the other regulatory bodies. There has been no evidence of environmental harm. The remaining two wells are at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site in Lancashire. As part of its application for Hydraulic Fracturing Consent, Cuadrilla was required to undergo a financial resilience check to ensure that it had sufficient funding to cover the full decommissioning of their site.If, in the unlikely situation there was an issue with the well in the longer term, the Environment Agency would seek to identify the person(s) responsible for any pollution and has powers it can apply in specific circumstances, to remediate the issues.The Department is considering whether any further mitigations might be appropriate.

Incinerators: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty's Government what amount of greenhouse gases the UK produced from incineration, including through waste to energy incinerators, in 2016.

lord duncan of springbank: Statistics on UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by source sector are published annually by the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) and are available on the NAEI website. In 2016, approximately 5.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent GHG emissions were emitted from incineration in the waste and energy supply sectors in the UK. Of this, 4.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent GHG emissions were emitted in the energy supply sector. Emissions from biogenic waste material are not included, consistent with domestic and international reporting of GHG emissions.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

baroness doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Thomas Cook's liquidation on (1) airline food suppliers, and (2) aircraft parts manufacturers.

lord duncan of springbank: My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has convened a special cross-government taskforce alongside local stakeholders to support employees, local stakeholders and supply chains. The taskforce is considering existing support schemes available and will also monitor local business impacts.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

baroness doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to protect Thomas Cook's suppliers from the financial impact of that company's collapse.

lord duncan of springbank: My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has convened a special cross-government taskforce alongside local stakeholders to support employees, local stakeholders and supply chains. The taskforce is considering existing support schemes available and will also monitor local business impacts. Local partners are able to advise on support available to suppliers affected by Thomas Cook going insolvent.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

baroness doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Thomas Cook's liquidation on the landlords of Thomas Cook's high street shops.

lord duncan of springbank: The Government welcomes the announcement that Hays Travel Limited has acquired Thomas Cook’s entire UK retail estate of 555 outlets. It is a matter for Hays Travel Limited to negotiate contractual arrangements with landlords for the ongoing occupation of the sites.

Foreign Companies: Ownership

lord rooker: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the public register of beneficial owners of overseas entities will be available for public inspection in the UK.

lord duncan of springbank: The draft Registration of Overseas Entities bill was published on 23 July 2018. The Joint Committee for the draft bill carried out pre-legislative scrutiny earlier this year, with the Government publishing its response to the Committee’s report and recommendations on 18 July 2019. In the response, the Government accepted a number of the Committee’s recommendations and has been considering other recommendations to ensure that the legislation is as effective as possible in tackling the use of UK property for the purpose of money laundering. It is essential that the new requirements are workable, proportionate and that the register strikes the right balance between improving transparency and minimising burdens on legitimate commercial activity. The Government intends to introduce the bill when parliamentary time allows.

*No heading*

lord truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ban fracking in the UK.

lord duncan of springbank: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

*No heading*

lord truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impact of Cuadrilla’s latest drilling programme in north west England.

lord duncan of springbank: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Gaza: Freezing of Assets

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made, and intend to make, to the Palestinian Authority, following reports that it has frozen bank accounts belonging to Palestinian non-governmental organisations in the Gaza Strip.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​Her Majesty’s Consul-General to Jerusalem raised this issue with the Palestinian Authority on 5 November. Our Consulate-General in Jerusalem frequently urges the Palestinian authorities to take steps within its grasp to improve the conditions in Gaza. The UK also continues to encourage the reconciliation process in which the Palestinian Authority resumes control of Gaza and restores effective and accountable governance.​

Israeli Settlements: Palestinians

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of violence by Israeli settlers against (1) Palestinians, their farmland and olive groves, and (2) human rights workers supporting Palestinians, in the West Bank.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​We are troubled by the increase in settler violence. Many recent incidents – including assaults on Palestinian farmers, the setting fire to olive trees and stealing of produce – have coincided with the Palestinian olive harvest, which began earlier this month. We condemn any incidence of violence by settlers against Palestinians. Under international law, Israel, as the occupying power, has an obligation to take all measures in its power to protect the Palestinian population from acts of violence. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised the increase in settler violence with the Israeli authorities on 30 October. We have stressed the importance of the Israel security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population. We welcome the efforts of Israeli authorities to address settler violence, and urge them to thoroughly investigate every instance and bring those responsible to justice. We are also clear that no human rights or aid workers should be at risk of violence and that they must have the protection they need from the responsible authorities to allow them to do their jobs in safety.

Israel: Sanctions and UN Resolutions

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they take to ensure that UN resolutions and sanctions against the government of Israel are enforced.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​We believe peace will only come through negotiations between the parties, but international action has a role in facilitating progress. We have long supported balanced UN resolutions, including United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 that addressed incitement and settlements. But resolutions that politicise neutral UN bodies or risk hardening positions on both sides, do little to advance peace or mutual understanding. We believe that imposing sanctions on Israel or supporting anti-Israeli boycotts would not support our efforts to progress the peace process and achieve a negotiated solution.

Israeli Settlements: Trade

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the call by the UN independent expert on human rights in the Palestinian territories for an international ban on all products made in Israeli settlements as a step to potentially end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank; and what steps they intend to take in response to that call.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​While it has long been our position that Israeli settlement activity is illegal, we believe that imposing sanctions on Israel or supporting anti-Israeli boycotts would not support our efforts to progress the peace process and achieve a negotiated solution. We understand the concerns of people who do not wish to purchase goods exported from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). It was in order to enable consumers to make a more fully informed decision concerning the products they buy that, in December 2009, the UK introduced voluntary guidelines to enable produce from Israeli settlements in the OPTs to be specifically labelled as such. Products from Israeli settlements do not receive preferential tariff treatment under the EU-Israel Association Agreement which currently governs our trade with Israel, nor the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement which will govern our trade after the UK leaves the EU.

West Bank: Children

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to protect Palestinian children in the West Bank from violence, including the use of live ammunition by the Israeli army.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​The Government is very concerned at the high numbers of Palestinians killed by Israel Defense Forces both in the West Bank and Gaza. We have raised the issue with the Israeli authorities, encouraging them to carry out transparent investigations into whether use of live fire had been appropriate. The UK has repeatedly made clear to Israel our longstanding concerns about the manner in which the Israel Defense Forces police non-violent protests and the border areas, including the use of live ammunition. We will continue to do so. We also stress the importance of protecting civilians, especially children and medical personnel. We call on Israel to adhere to the principles of necessity and proportionality when defending its legitimate security interest.

Israel: Palestinians

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they are making to the government of Israel about the number of injuries to unarmed Palestinians caused by live ammunition.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We have repeatedly made clear to Israel our longstanding concerns about the way Israel Defense Forces police protests and the border areas, including the use of live ammunition. We call on Israel to adhere to the principles of necessity and proportionality when defending its legitimate security interest.

West Bank: Energy Supply

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the reduction of power supplies to the West Bank and the reported denial by the government of Israel to alternative sources of power on the human rights of those living there; and what representations they intend to make to the government of Israel about increasing power supply to the West Bank.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​The British Government is aware of the decision of the Israel Electric Corporation to cut power to parts of the West Bank, citing outstanding payments from Palestinian power distributors. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this issue with the Israeli authorities on 30 October. We continue to urge both sides of the dispute to reach a prompt and pragmatic resolution, ensuring minimum disruption to the lives of ordinary Palestinians. We recognise the need for improvements in infrastructure, employment, energy and water supply to improve living conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: EU Defence Policy

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the objectives of the EU’s Operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and what contribution, if any, the UK is making tothat operation.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​EUFOR Operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is an EU military operation. It operates under a UN Chapter VII mandate and under the Berlin Plus arrangements, is commanded by NATO and has access to NATO assets and capabilities. Its main objective is to support the authorities of BiH to maintain a ‘Safe and Secure Environment’. The United Kingdom has consistently supported its aims and objectives. The United Kingdom shares Operation Althea’s common costs with the other 22 participating nations. We currently contribute a number of staff officers, an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance taskforce and offer an ‘over the horizon’ reserve battalion.

Jerusalem: Religious Buildings

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the government of Israel’s Public Security Minister on 11 October that non-Muslims may soon be allowed to worship inside the al-Aqsa Mosque, what assessment they have made of the impact of any such change on the status of religious sites, in particular the al-Aqsa Mosque; and what representations they intend to make to the government of Israel about that proposal.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​The Haram Al-Sharif / Temple Mount and Jerusalem hold particular significance for many groups around the globe, especially the three Abrahamic faiths of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The UK is committed to working with all parties to maintain calm, avoid provocation and uphold the status quo to ensure the safety and the security of the Al Haram Al Sharif / Temple Mount and all who worship there.

Israeli Settlements: Palestinians

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of incursions by Israeli settlers, supported by the Israeli army, into Palestinian religious and archaeological sites in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, including the al-Aqsa Mosque.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​We condemn any incidence of violence by settlers against Palestinians. We welcome the efforts of Israeli authorities to address settler violence, and urge them to thoroughly investigate every instance and bring those responsible to justice. We have also stressed the importance of the Israel security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population. In our meetings with the Israeli authorities we regularly raise the need to respect the status quo of the holy sites in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this issue with the Israeli authorities on 16 October.

Israel: Palestinians

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they are making to the government of Israel about reports of an elderly mosque imam being seriously injured after being hit by seven bullets in Ramla city on 12 October.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​The UK Government strongly condemns all forms of violence and incitement to violence. The perpetual cycle of violence does not serve anyone's interests, and must end.

Pakistan: Ahmadiyya

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of an attack by authorities in Punjab which destroyed part of the Ahmadiyya Muslim mosque in Hasilpur; and what representations they have made to the government of Pakistan to end discrimination and persecution of Ahmadis.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​We are concerned about the reports of the damage to the Ahmadiyya Muslim mosque in Hasilpur, Punjab, Pakistan.We regularly raise our concerns about reports of discrimination against religious minorities in Pakistan, including the Ahmadis, with the Pakistani Government at a senior level. The previous Foreign Secretary discussed the treatment of minority religious communities with Foreign Minister Qureshi during his visit to the UK in June. The UK strongly condemns the persecution of all minorities, including the targeting of innocent people based on their beliefs. The British Government continues to urge Pakistan to honour its human rights obligations, including those related to religious minorities, and to uphold the rule of law.

Lebanon: Politics and Government

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current political situation in Lebanon, following the recent protests in that country.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa met the Lebanese Ambassador to the UK on October 24 to discuss recent developments. Lebanon is at a crossroads. Whatever the political solution, Lebanon needs a government that can urgently deliver vital reforms necessary to create a better country for all. Violence or intimidation of peaceful protests from any group only undermines Lebanon's unity and stability. The UK will continue to support a secure, stable, sovereign and prosperous Lebanon.

Iraq: Politics and Government

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to support the government of Iraq in order to end violence in that country.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​We are deeply concerned about the continued violence in Iraq. We continue to urge the Iraqi security forces to show restraint and call for the protests to be peaceful. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Mehdi on 9 October to express UK concerns about the disproportionate security response and push for the Government to take action to respond to protesters' legitimate concerns. I spoke to Foreign Minister Al-Hakim on 10 October to underline these points. Our Ambassador in Baghdad has been in close contact with senior Iraqis including the Iraqi President and Prime Minister. We are also working with international partners and the UN to encourage and support the Government of Iraq to take quick and effective action on tackling corruption, creating jobs and improving services, in line with the protestors' legitimate demands.

Tunisia: Foreign Relations

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen bilateral relations with Tunisia and to support that country's ongoing political and economic changes; and what meetings ministers have held with President Kais Saied.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​The British Government congratulates President Kais Saied on his inauguration on 24 October. We remain in close touch with the Tunisian authorities and look forward to working with the new Government when it is formed. While British Ministers have not yet met President Saied, UK officials attended his inauguration. The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Dr Murrison, held comprehensive talks with the then Tunisian Secretary of State to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sabri Bachtobji, at the UK-Tunisia Bilateral Forum in London on 12 September. Mr Bachtobji was appointed Acting Foreign Minister on 29 October. The signing of the UK-Tunisia Association Agreement on 4 October, and the UK-Tunisia Investment Forum on 22 October are other recent highlights of our growing bilateral co-operation and, along with UK programming worth over £12 million in 2019-2020, testament to our continuing support for Tunisia’s political and economic development.

Sri Lanka: Human Rights

lord naseby: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Freedom of Information request made by Lord Naseby on 6 November 2014 and the resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on 1 October 2015 Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, whether they will now publish the full information contained within the despatches written by Lieutenant Colonel Anton Gash to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office during the period January to May 2009; and if so, when.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office received a Freedom of Information request made by you on 6 November 2014 and responded in line with our obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We have no plans to publish further information related to this at this time.

Europe: Refugees

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last had discussions with UNICEF and Médecins Sans Frontières about (1) the refugees on the Greek Islands,(2) rescues from the Mediterranean, including children aged 5 to 17, and (3) unaccompanied minors who have reached France.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We are in regular dialogue with relevant NGOs on a range of migration issues. We have routine discussions of Search and Rescue and the situation of migrants in Libya with Médecins sans frontières.We remain committed to supporting Greece's efforts to manage migration effectively. We are working with the Greek Government, who retain responsibility for the situation of migrants in the country, to this end. United Kingdom vessels have rescued 16,000 migrants in the Aegean since 2015.

*No heading*

lord dholakia: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the treatment of religious minority communities in Yemen; what information they have about the appeal against a death sentence in the case of Hamid bin Haydara; and whether they will release that information.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We stressed our concerns about Mr bin Haydara’s case with the Houthis directly on 6 October. We strongly condemn Mr bin Haydara's death sentence and the continued persecution of Baha'is in Yemen for their religious beliefs. We continue to follow the treatment of the Baha’is in Yemen closely, including through meeting their representatives in the UK and lobbying the relevant authorities. We continue to call on the parties to the conflict to respect the human rights of all Yemenis.

*No heading*

lord dholakia: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of the repression of members of the Bahá'ícommunity in north Yemen; and what representations they have made to representatives of the Houthis about freedom of religion or belief in those areas under their de facto governance.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The UK strongly condemns the mistreatment of Baha’is who are being persecuted for their religious beliefs in areas under the control of the Houthis. We are working closely with our partners to raise these concerns directly with the Houthi authorities and urge the release of detained individuals. We continue to call on the parties to the conflict for the human rights of all Yemenis to be respected.I raised the religious persecution of the Baha’i community in my statement of 22 October on human rights. We continue to follow the treatment of the Baha’is in Yemen closely, including through meeting their representatives in the UK and lobbying the relevant authorities.

*No heading*

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UN Secretary-General's appeal on 14 October for safe access forcivilians in need in north-east Syria; and what assessment they have made of whether the ceasefire in that area (1) is being respected, and(2) will be fully supervised and made permanent.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​We welcome the UN Secretary-General's statement on 14 October for safe access for civilians in need in north-east Syria. Our assessment is that the ceasefire in north-east Syria continues to broadly hold, and we welcome the fact that Turkey has confirmed it has no plans for a further offensive. Implementation of the ceasefire is for the parties directly involved but we have made clear our expectation that all parties abide by the agreed ceasefire, which we wish to see become permanent, and by their obligations under international humanitarian law.

*No heading*

lord truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what actionthey are taking to protect the Kurdish population of Northern Syria.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​The UK has taken bilateral and multilateral action to end the Turkish military incursion into north-east Syria. We have been consistently clear with Turkey on our opposition to its military action– the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Minister for the Middle East and North Africa each communicated this to their Turkish counterparts, most recently on 26 October. We therefore welcome the fact that the ceasefire is holding and that Turkey has confirmed it has no plans for a further offensive. We continue to call for all parties to ensure the protection of civilians and unhindered, safe and sustainable humanitarian access throughout Syria, including at the UN Security Council.

*No heading*

lord truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to bring peace to Syria.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​The UK's priority remains to end the conflict in Syria through a negotiated political settlement. We are providing active support to the UN-led Geneva process between the Syrian parties, which remains the forum to achieve this. We welcomed the launch of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva on 30 October, which we hope will be a first step towards a negotiated settlement. Absent such a settlement, we are clear that we have no plans to re-open our Embassy in Damascus, remove sanctions or provide any reconstruction assistance.

Cabinet Office

General Elections: Disinformation

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what stepstheyare planning to take to prevent fake advertisements and fake news funded from unknown sources seeking to undermine parliamentary elections.

earl howe: The Government takes the integrity of our electoral processes extremely seriously and we are working across Government to strengthen our electoral system and defend it from interference. In July 2019, the Cabinet Office announced the creation of the Defending Democracy programme, which has been set up to pull together existing work and expertise in this area from right across Government.The Defending Democracy programme has been set up by the Government in order to protect and secure UK democratic processes, systems and institutions from interference including from cyber, personnel and physical threats; to strengthen the integrity of UK elections; to encourage respect for open, fair and safe democratic participation; and to promote fact-based and open discourse, including online.On 5th May 2019 the Cabinet Office also announced a range of measures to better safeguard UK elections by cracking down on intimidation, malign influence, interference and disinformation. This included commitments to launch a consultation on electoral integrity and implement a digital imprints regime for online election material.The Government has built relationships with social media companies and will continue to have regular and robust dialogue with them on how to limit the spread of disinformation and other kinds of propaganda designed to serve political interests. Social media platforms have taken action to protect the integrity and security of the elections. They are providing online safety and security guidance to parties and candidates and are improving transparency of political advertising on their platforms and processes for removal of fake accounts. While we welcome these measures, there is clearly much more to be done to tackle these issues and other online harms.

Policy

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what requirements, if any, there are to take people's lived experience into account when developing policy.

earl howe: The Civil Service Professional Development Framework for Policy Professionals describes the skills and knowledge required by policy professionals in bringing together the evidence base to advise decision makers.There are three broad themes: 'Analysis and the Use of Evidence', “Politics and Democracy” and “Policy Delivery”. Section 3.5 (Page 18) highlights the importance of ‘User Centred Design’ in policy, “developing policy with the impact of end users at the forefront of thinking.”We continue to build the capability of the policy professionals advising decision makers across government – through teams such as Policy Lab, who support many projects across government on user centred design in policy development.

General Elections: Subversion

lord rooker: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken since the 2017 General Election to prevent (1) Russian, (2) Chinese, and (3) United States, interference in future UK general elections.

earl howe: The Government takes the integrity of our electoral processes extremely seriously and we are working across Government to strengthen our electoral system and defend it from interference. There is no evidence of successful foreign interventions in our elections.In July 2019, the Cabinet Office announced the creation of the Defending Democracy programme, which has been set up to pull together existing work and expertise in this area from right across Government.The Defending Democracy programme has been set up by the Government in order to protect and secure UK democratic processes, systems and institutions from interference including from cyber, personnel and physical threats; to strengthen the integrity of UK elections; to encourage respect for open, fair and safe democratic participation; and to promote fact-based and open discourse, including online.The Cabinet Office has announced a range of measures to better safeguard UK elections by cracking down on intimidation, interference and disinformation. This includes commitments to launch a consultation on electoral integrity and implement a digital imprints regime for online election material.

*No heading*

lord truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated cost to the public purse of the General Election on 12 December.

earl howe: The full cost of the election will not be known until after the poll, once all expenses claims have been received and settled and Royal Mail invoices paid.

Department of Health and Social Care

Babylon Health

lord foulkes of cumnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they willpublish separately a list of (1) all meetings between all health ministers and the private health care provider, Babylon, and (2) social and other events organised by Babylon attended by one or more health ministers.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: Since the current Government came into office in 2017, there has been only one external meeting between a Departmental Minister and Babylon, as of June 2019. This was in March 2018 when the Minister of State for Care (Caroline Dinenage MP) attended a meeting where Babylon and other organisations’ representatives were present. Lists of Departmental external meetings are publicly available online.

Cheltenham Hospital: Accident and Emergency Departments

lord jones of cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to retain a consultant-led Accident & Emergency service throughout the day at Cheltenham General Hospital; and if so, for how long.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Cheltenham Hospital: Accident and Emergency Departments

lord jones of cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to include the option of retaining a consultant-led Accident & Emergency department at Cheltenham General Hospital in their forthcoming consultation.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Cheltenham Hospital: Accident and Emergency Departments

lord jones of cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the option of removing Accident & Emergency consultants from Cheltenham General Hospital during the day will be included as part of their forthcoming consultation.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Cheltenham Hospital: Accident and Emergency Departments

lord jones of cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and (2) Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, about the consultant-led Accident & Emergency service at Cheltenham General Hospital; and what was the outcome of those discussions.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Cheltenham Hospital: Accident and Emergency Departments

lord jones of cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what factors led to their consideration of removing the consultant-led Accident & Emergency service at Cheltenham General Hospital.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Cheltenham Hospital: Accident and Emergency Departments

lord jones of cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to reinstate a 24-hours a day, seven days a week consultant-led Accident & Emergency at Cheltenham General Hospital; and if so, when.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

NHS: Drugs and Medical Equipment

baroness altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government what preventive measuresthey have put in place to protect the NHS from running short of essential medicines and medical supplies in preparation for a possible no-deal Brexit on 31 October or any other date; and what estimatethey have made of the costs incurredfromsuch measures.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Nurses: Pensions

baroness altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many NHS practice nurses in England, after working in NHS GP practices across the country, have been excluded from the NHS pension arrangements available to other NHS staff; what estimatethey have made of the pension such nurses would have accrued, on average, had they been able to accrue pensions in the same way as nurses working in other parts of the NHS.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Doctors: Pensions

baroness altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of how many NHS senior medical staff have been asked to pay extra tax as a result of their pension contributions exceeding the Tapered Annual Allowance inthe (1) 2016–17, (2) 2017–18, and (3) 2018–19 tax years; and what was the average amount of tax that such staff wereasked to pay in each of those years.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Medical Treatments: Finance

lord hunt of kings heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Individual Funding Requests are intended to be used for rationing access to NHS treatments, such as liothyronine, where there is a recognised cohort of patients.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: Individual Funding Requests are not intended to be used for rationing treatments, such as liothyronine. All clinical commissioning groups have their own Individual Funding Request policies that enable commissioners to focus on commissioning services that will meet the majority of their local population’s needs without spending funds on services that very few people may need access to.

Liothyronine

lord hunt of kings heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Individual Funding Requests have been received for treatment with liothyronine since the start of the Low Priority Prescribing Project Programme in 2017.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: NHS England has advised that treatment with liothyronine is commissioned by clinical commissioning groups and that it does not collate information on Individual Funding Requests centrally.

Mental Health Services: Staff

baroness parminter: To ask Her Majesty's Government what accountability mechanisms are in place to ensure local NHS People Plans include a mental health workforce strategy to reduce vacancy rates, retain staff and create the new roles needed to fulfil their proposals on mental health.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: Supporting and expanding the mental health workforce is a key priority for this Government. The interim NHS People Plan set out the immediate actions we will take to fill vacancies and secure the staff we need for the future.The full NHS People Plan will set out a new operating model for workforce and systematic actions to ensure healthy, inclusive and compassionate cultures for all staff working in the National Health Service, both improving staff experience and enhancing retention.Alongside this, NHS England and NHS Improvement will work closely with all local sustainability and transformation partnerships and integrated care systems to refine and improve their existing mental health workforce plans and develop robust plans to deliver the NHS Long Term Plan ambitions.

Vaccination: Children

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to increase the uptake of childhood vaccinations; and when any suchplans are likely to be implemented.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Methadone

lord brooke of alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the purchase price of methadone, per unit, paid by the NHS in England in (1) 2005, (2) 2010, (3) 2015, and (4) 2019.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Methadone

lord brooke of alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average annual costper person of methadone (1) treatment, and (2) supervision.

lord brooke of alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have assessed the value for money that the methadone programme in England represents; if so, what was the outcome of any such assessment; and if not, why not.

lord brooke of alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to divert funding currently used for methadone treatment to initiatives to support people to abstain from opiates.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs: Rehabilitation

lord brooke of alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to develop drug and alcohol services over the next 12 months.

lord brooke of alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money they have allocated to drug and alcohol services in 2019 compared with (1) 2015, (2) 2016, (3) 2017, and (4) 2018.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Food: Advertising

lord hunt of kings heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatplans they have, if any, to implement new restrictions on promotions and advertising for products which are high in salt, sugar and fat.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Dental Health: Children

lord hunt of kings heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to implement the commitments relating to children’s oral health contained in theAdvancing on health: prevention in the 2020's consultation document, published in July 2019.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: The Government’s Green Paper, Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s, published in July, commits to consulting next year on options for rolling out a national school toothbrushing scheme in more pre-school settings and primary schools in England. These proposals will aim to reach the most deprived 3-5 year olds in all areas of the country and will look to reach 30% by 2022.The Green Paper consultation included a question on the role that water companies can play in supporting water fluoridation initiatives. The consultation closed on 14 October and we are currently analysing responses. In addition, we will also be exploring ways of removing the funding barriers to encourage more local areas that are interested in fluoridating water to come forward with proposals.

Methadone

lord rennard: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to theanswer by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford on 28 October (HL Deb, col 772), why data on the costs of the supply of methadone are not collected centrally; and what dataareavailable on the number of patients using methadone in different regions of England.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: The Government does not collect detailed data like the costs of supplying specific drugs, such as methadone.Public Health England collects data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System on the number of people in treatment for opiates who are receiving a pharmacological intervention. Most of these people received prescriptions as part of opiate substitution therapy, for which methadone is the most commonly prescribed medication.

Heroin: Rehabilitation

lord rennard: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further tothe answer byBaroness Blackwood of North Oxfordon 28 October (HL Deb, col 772), what is the level of provision in different regions of England of heroin-assisted treatment involving addicts injecting safely.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: Information on the level of provision of heroin assisted treatment is not centrally collected.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

lord rennard: To ask Her Majesty's Government what actionthey have taken, or are planning to take, to increase access to talking therapies and other non-pharmacological management strategies for substance misuse.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need for substance misuse treatment and commissioning a range of services and interventions, including psychosocial interventions, to meet that need.Public Health England has published a range of guidance and toolkits online to support local areas in increasing the provision of effective psychosocial interventions.

Drugs: Death

lord rennard: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of drug deaths across different regions of England.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

*No heading*

lord wigley: To ask Her Majesty's Government which representatives attended the World Health Organisation Second Global Rehabilitation 2030 meeting in Geneva on 8 and 9 July.

baroness blackwood of north oxford: There were no United Kingdom Government representatives on the final list of participants for the Second Global Rehabilitation 2030 Meeting in Geneva on 8 and 9 July 2019. A number of medical, academic and other representatives from the UK did however take part. The list of participants is attached due to the size of the data.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Tuberculosis

baroness stern: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessmentthey havemade of the Global Tuberculosis Report2019, published on 17 October;and what stepsthey intend to take to ensure that their recent investment in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria improves global access to new treatments for drug-resistant Tuberculosis.

baroness sugg: The UK Government recognises that the Global Tuberculosis Report 2019 provides important evidence on the challenges in tackling tuberculosis as an issue of global public health importance. It shows that progress has been made, particularly improvements in the number of cases of tuberculosis identified and increases in testing coverage for drug resistant tuberculosis. 7 million people with tuberculosis were identified globally in 2018; 600,000 more people than in 2017. Additionally, the proportion of people with a tuberculosis diagnosis who were tested for drug resistance rose from 41% in 2017 to 51% in 2018. Investments in the Global Fund have played a major role in tackling the global epidemic of tuberculosis. Dealing with drug resistant tuberculosis is a key focus of the Global Fund through prevention, detection and treatment, including supporting countries to introduce bedaquiline and delamanid, two ground breaking new drugs for the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis. The new drugs have fewer side effects and are more effective, increasing the chances that people will stay on the treatment and be cured. We work with the Global Fund to ensure that our investment continues to support advances to improve access to treatment for both drug sensitive and drug resistant tuberculosis.

Bangladesh: Rohingya

the lord bishop of st albans: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the quality of the Rohingya people’s lives in Bangladesh.

baroness sugg: A June 2019 study by the Overseas Development Institute found that refugees felt that their lives would first and foremost be improved through education, then better living conditions, then the ability to support themselves. The study also describes the Rohingya people’s immediate concerns affecting their quality of life, including shelter conditions, lack of firewood or stoves, issues with healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene and protection support, inadequate food and insufficient supplies. The UK has committed £256 million in funding since August 2017 to improve many aspects of daily life including food security, nutrition, shelter, health, and education. The UK engages regularly with the Government of Bangladesh to discuss the need to improve refugees’ access to education, skills and livelihoods. While progress has been made, life within the camps remains challenging for the Rohingya and the uncertainty about their future is a difficult burden to bear. The UK has supported regular surveys conducted by Ground Truth Solutions to help the international community better understand the changing perspectives of the Rohingya in Bangladesh.

*No heading*

lord truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they have spent on humanitarian aid in the Middle East over the last 12 months.

baroness sugg: 2019 UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend will be published in Autumn 2020. The UK spent £393 million of bilateral ODA on humanitarian aid in the Middle East in 2018. The UK’s core funding to multilateral agencies also contributes to humanitarian aid in the Middle East.

Department for Education

Disability: Children

baroness bertin: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the £434 million funding gap for disabled children's social care identified in the research published by the Disabled Children's Partnership; and what plans they have to establish a disabled children's fund to improve early intervention services such as short breaks for disabled children.

lord agnew of oulton: All children should have access to the support they need to keep them safe, provide them with a stable and nurturing home, and overcome challenges to achieve their potential. We do not recognise the figures provided in the Disabled Children’s Partnership report, however, in the Spending Round 2019, the government confirmed an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care in 2020-21. This is in addition to the continuation of all existing social care grants.Local authorities’ core spending power is expected to rise from £46.2 billion to £49.1 billion in 2020-21. This is an estimated 4.3% increase in real terms.Local authorities have the flexibility to make decisions based around their local needs. The statutory guidance, 'Working Together to Safeguard Children', sets out how local authorities should provide effective, evidence-based services to protect and promote the welfare of children, including disabled children. The guidance was updated on 4 July 2018 and states that it is better to provide services addressing needs early, rather than reacting later. The statutory duty to provide short breaks, introduced in 2011, falls on local authorities. The guidance is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2, and is attached. 



HL275_Guidance
(PDF Document, 2.22 MB)

Secondary Education: Pupil Exclusions

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of secondary schools that have removed pupils from the school roll prior to public examinations.

lord agnew of oulton: The information is not readily available and can only be provided at disproportionate cost. A pupil can lawfully be deleted from the admission register on the grounds prescribed in Regulation 8 of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 as amended. All schools must notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is to be deleted from the admission register under any of the grounds prescribed in Regulation 8, as soon as the ground for removal is met and no later than the time at which the pupil’s name is removed from the register. We are clear that the practice of off-rolling, whereby children are removed from school rolls without formal exclusion in ways that are in the interests of the school rather than the pupil, is unacceptable. Informal or unofficial exclusions are unlawful and we have previously written to schools to remind them of the rules on exclusions. We are continuing to work with Ofsted to tackle the practice of off-rolling. Ofsted already considered records of children taken off-roll, but they consulted on proposals with a strengthened focus on this issue. Since September 2019, Ofsted’s new education inspection framework details that where inspectors find off-rolling, this will always be addressed in the inspection report, and where appropriate, could lead to a school’s leadership being judged inadequate.

Pupil Referral Units

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to increase the number of spaces available in pupil referral units.

lord agnew of oulton: Pupil Referral Units form part of the Alternative Provision (AP) education sector and are maintained by local authorities. All local authorities have a duty under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to provide suitable education and sufficient places for children of compulsory school age who cannot attend school. As at October 2019, there are 209 Pupil Referral Units in England, along with 95 AP Academies and 47 AP Free Schools, with a further 7 AP Free Schools planned to open over the next three years.The department is currently looking closely at what is needed to ensure the sector has the capacity and capability to provide high quality education and support to all children and young people in alternative provision.

Universities: Intellectual Property

lord west of spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance is given to UK universitiesabout the risk of (1) hostile state actors, and (2) a reliance on funding from Chinese students and the theft of research and intellectual property from campuses.

baroness berridge: The government has developed bespoke advice, as part of the Trusted Research campaign, which will help UK universities and research institutions make informed decisions about international collaboration and, in doing so, protect their intellectual property, sensitive research and personal information. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) continue to work closely with the academic sector to improve their security practices and help protect academic establishments from threats. The government welcomes international students to study in the UK. We recognise that they enhance our educational institutions both financially and culturally. They enrich the experience of domestic students and they become important ambassadors for the UK in later life. In the recently published ‘International Education Strategy’, the government set out its ambition to increase the number of international students in the UK to 600,000. This is underpinned by measures to support the sector to attract students from all over the globe, including the recently announced Graduate Route, which will enable institutions to recruit on a sustainable basis.

Universities

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision universities are required to make for students who need to repeat a year or pause their studies due to (1) ill health, (2) having caring responsibilities, and (3) a pregnancy; and to what extent the Department for Education expects universities to make equal provision for such students in cases where the university concerned decided to close down a department part of the way through the degree course for any student concerned.

baroness berridge: The Office for Students (OfS) is responsible for safeguarding standards within the sector. It ensures that the Department for Education works collaboratively with the sector to make sure that it acts in the best interests of students. The regulatory framework is designed to ensure that higher education providers are: providing value for money for students; are taking action to improve access and participation; and they have student protection plans in place in case of any market failure.My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s guidance to the OfS sets out that student interests should be central to the mission of the OfS and that the OfS should promote a positive higher education experience.In relation to the student experience, the government has asked the OfS to promote providers’ active engagement with the welfare and wellbeing of students and in particular encourages measures to support student mental health.Undergraduate students who are required to repeat a year of study on their course due to compelling personal reasons (e.g. illness, ill health or pregnancy) can apply for an additional year of tuition fee loan and living costs support from Student Finance England for their repeat year of study.Undergraduate students who suspend their studies due to illness, caring responsibilities or pregnancy can apply to Student Finance England to continue paying their living costs support during their period of absence.

Solicitors: Training

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposed withdrawal of Professional and Career Development Loans on those from low-income households seeking to qualify as solicitors through the Solicitors Qualifying Examination, which is scheduled to be introduced in 2021.

baroness berridge: Professional and Career Development Loans (PCDLs) closed to new applicants in January 2019. The department identified the majority of prospective applicants had access to statutory loans, such as Advanced Learner Loans and postgraduate master’s loans, for the courses they intended to study. Demand for PCDLs had fallen significantly as a result. It was not possible to assess the impact of this decision on an examination that did not exist at the time.

Universities: Finance

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with UK Universitiesabout concerns over the future finances of universities.

baroness berridge: The Office for Students (OfS) is responsible for assessing and monitoring the financial sustainability of registered higher education (HE) providers in England. The English HE sector overall remains in reasonable financial health, according to the OfS, in its report published on 4 April 2019. The OfS has currently registered 388 HE providers. This means that it has assessed that each of those providers has met a registration condition of being financially sustainable looking out for a period of five years. The OfS will continually monitor providers’ compliance with this registration condition, as with all registration conditions, in a way that is appropriate to the circumstances of individual providers.Ministers and officials in the Department for Education regularly discuss a wide range of issues relating to HE with the OfS. Similarly, Ministers and officials frequently meet representatives of individual HE providers and sector representative bodies.Education is a devolved matter. The Department for Education is responsible for HE in England only. The OfS is the regulator for HE in England only.

The Senior Deputy Speaker

House of Lords: Gratuities

lord storey: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether catering and retail staff members of the House of Lords receive the full amount of any "tip" given to them when paid by debit card.

lord laming: The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf. The full amount of any tip paid by debit card, or any other form of payment, is distributed amongst Catering and Retail staff, less a deduction for Employer’s National Insurance at the appropriate rate.Gratuity payments are made to staff via the payroll, therefore a deduction for tax and Employee’s National Insurance is made at the relevant rate.Any administration charges linked to payments via credit or debit cards are not deducted from the gratuity amount.

Private Notice Questions

lord trefgarne: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what are the criteria taken into account by the Lord Speaker when he is considering whether or not to accept a Private Notice Question.

lord mcfall of alcluith: The Companion to the Standing Orders and Guide to the Proceedings of the House of Lords states that a private notice question (PNQ) gives members of the House the opportunity to raise urgent matters on any sitting day. The Lord Speaker, after consultation, considers whether the question is of sufficient urgency and importance to justify an immediate reply. The Procedure Committee’s 2nd Report of Session 2009-10 (HL Paper 51), recommended that the Lord Speaker’s decision, in respect of the admissibility of PNQs, be considered final. The House agreed this report on 16 March 2010.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Private Rented Housing: Landlords

baroness thornhill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Chartered Institute of Housing andthe Chartered Institute of Environmental HealthA licence to rent, published in January,calling for the creation of a national landlord register for the private rented sector in England.

viscount younger of leckie: A detailed assessment of this report has not been made. This Government commissioned an independent review into selective licensing which was published on 25 June 2019 and the recommendations are currently being reviewed.This Government has no current plans to introduce a national landlord register, which could place an additional regulatory burden on landlords. This Government is committed to improving the private rented sector by driving out criminal landlords and landlords who consistently neglect their responsibilities to provide safe and decent accommodation.Local authorities currently have a wide range of powers available to them including banning orders for the worst offenders, civil penalties of up to £30,000 and a database of rogue landlords and property agents targeted at the worst persistent and criminal offenders.

Private Rented Housing: Standards

baroness thornhill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to improve housing conditions in the private rented sector in England.

viscount younger of leckie: Government is raising standards and improving conditions in the private rented sector by taking action against rogue landlords and empowering tenants themselves to take action against bad practice.We have brought in the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, extended licensing of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and announced that we will require five yearly electrical safety checks. We have also introduced banning orders and a database of rogue landlords and agents to help local authorities rid the sector of landlords who continue to choose not to meet standards, and provided them with training, refreshed guidance and ​have just announced £3.8m of further grant funding to innovate and boost their enforcement work.This is improving conditions across the private rented sector as rogue landlords are forced to either raise their game or to leave the sector entirely.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

baroness hayter of kentish town: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of whethersurveyors are returning zero valuations on properties in high-rise buildings by citing the Government's Advice Note 14Advice on external wall systems that do not incorporate Aluminium Composite Material, published on 18 December 2018; and what steps they intend to take in response.

baroness hayter of kentish town: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with industry representatives about leaseholders in high-rise buildings being unable to sell their properties due to blanket zero valuations by surveyors citing the Government's Advice Note 14 Advice on external wall systems that do not incorporate Aluminium Composite Material, published on 18 December 2018.

baroness hayter of kentish town: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to providing mortgage lenders with instruction that would prevent, and end, leaseholders in high-rise buildings being unable to sell their properties due to blanket zero valuations by surveyors citing the Government's Advice Note 14 Advice on external wall systems that do not incorporate Aluminium Composite Material, published on 18 December 2018.

viscount younger of leckie: It has not proved possible to respond to these questions in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

baroness whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of theEquality and Human Rights Commission report Gypsy and Traveller sites: the revised planning definition's impact on assessing accommodation needs, published on 13 September.

viscount younger of leckie: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

baroness doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on business rates revenue,following the closure of Thomas Cook's high street shops.

viscount younger of leckie: My Department does not hold data on business rates liabilities associated with particular ratepayers or properties. However, I understand that a significant number of former Thomas Cook branches have been reopened by Hays Travel, with more to follow.

Social Rented Housing: Construction

lord beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of (1) the absence of social housing grants, and (2) the rise in interest rates on HM Treasury loans to local authorities, on the provision of new housing by local authorities.

viscount younger of leckie: We have made £9 billion available through the Affordable Homes Programme to March 2022 to deliver approximately 250,000 new affordable homes in a wide range of tenures, including social rent, which Local Authorities are eligible to apply for The Government keeps all policy under review and alongside the increase of the Public Works Loan Board rates the Government has legislated to increase the lending limit from £85 billion to £95 billion, reflecting its commitment that local authorities continue to have access to the financing they need to support their capital plans. We have been engaging the local government sector, to understand the potential impact the interest rate rise could have on individual local authorities’ capital plans and strategies, especially with regard to housing and regeneration. As ever, we expect local authorities to have robust financial plans in place which take into account the risk of changing economic circumstances as part of taking a prudent approach to borrowing.

Ministry of Defence

Centre of Excellence for Human Security

baroness hodgson of abinger: To ask Her Majesty's Government where the Centre of Excellence for Human Security, as announced on 4 April, will be based.

baroness hodgson of abinger: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Centre of Excellence for Human Security, as announced on 4 April, has been allocated funding.

baroness hodgson of abinger: To ask Her Majesty's Government how the courses delivered by the Centre of Excellence for Human Security will be accredited.

baroness goldie: In April 2019, the then Defence Secretary announced an outline plan for a Centre of Excellence on Human Security in Military Operations. An internal feasibility study outlined options for such a project but having reviewed these options, I believe this approach is an ineffective use of resources to deliver our intent and have taken a decision not to proceed with the centre.In coming to this judgement, we are in no way seeking to divert effort from this key priority and under my direction, officials are developing a comprehensive programme to reinforce Human Security policy and deliver operational best practice.Looking ahead, we will continue to expand our Human Security training programmes for UK and international personnel, delivered in the UK through the Defence Academy. Beginning in December we will roll out a new series of collaborative international training ventures in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa, working with a wide-range of international partners.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Children

baroness eaton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatrecent estimate they have made oftheir expenditure on the (1) child element, and (2) childcare costs element, of Universal Credit.

baroness stedman-scott: The Department’s profile of spending on childcare in Universal Credit is shown in the table below. As the volume of claimants with children on legacy benefits decreases as they move to Universal Credit, spending on childcare will increase accordingly.  Ann. cost 18/19Ann. cost 19/20Ann. cost 20/21Ann. cost 21/22Ann. cost 22/23Ann. cost 23/24Total cost UC Childcare£100m£400m£700m£900m£1,100m£1,400m Notes: The figures in the table above are derived from internal DWP models, and costs have been rounded to the nearest £100 million.

Social Security Benefits: Children

baroness eaton: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they have spent on (1) benefits, and (2) tax credits, related to childcare and other child-related costs, broken down by each payment, in the last year for which figures are available.

baroness stedman-scott: The profile of spending on the Childcare Element of Universal Credit in 2018/19 was £100 million1. As the volume of claimants with children on legacy benefits decreases as they move to Universal Credit, spending on childcare will increase accordingly. Spending on child-related benefits administered by HMRC are shown in the table below.  2018-19Child Tax Credit (excluding childcare element)2£18.0 billionTax Free Childcare 3£117 millionChild Benefit 3£11.5 billion Notes: The Universal Credit spending is derived from internal DWP models, and costs have been rounded to the nearest £100 million.Total Child Tax Credits comes from HMRC 2018-19 Annual Report and Accounts. This is reduced by an estimate of the value that relates to the childcare element which is subject to a degree of uncertainty.From HMRC Receipts statistics.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

baroness doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that former Thomas Cook employees who apply for, and are eligible for, Universal Credit begin receiving payments swiftly.

baroness stedman-scott: The Department is monitoring all new claims to Universal Credit to identify where the claimant is a former employee of Thomas Cook so that they quickly receive the right level of support. For claimants who require urgent financial support, new claim advances provide access to a payment quickly, until the first regular Universal Credit payment is due. Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 months. From April 2019 Citizens Advice (England and Wales) and Citizens Advice Scotland are delivering ‘Help to Claim’ support to claimants making a new Universal Credit claim. Help to Claim have offered locally tailored support to former Thomas Cook employees in need of assistance face to face, and through prioritised telephony and web-chat channels. Where we have seen an increase in demand, additional staff have been deployed from neighbouring offices on a temporary basis. The Department is offering a range of support to anyone affected by the closure of Thomas Cook, through our Rapid Response Service (RRS) and wider DWP services. This is a redundancy service designed to give support and advice to employers and their employees when faced with redundancy. It is coordinated nationally by the National Employer and Partnership Team (NEPT) and is managed by Jobcentre Plus. The RRS has been mobilised to help people find a new job as soon as possible by offering tailored support. Each Jobcentre Plus district deploy resources according to the situation and the requirements of the workforce. The RRS is delivered in partnership with a range of national and local partners, including National Careers Service and local service providers.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in response to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in J.D and A v. the United Kingdom that the under-occupation reduction of housing benefit or the ‘bedroom tax’ unlawfully discriminates against women at serious risk of domestic violence.

baroness stedman-scott: We are carefully considering the European Court of Human Rights Judgment in the case of A. We welcome the decision in the case of JD which confirmed in this case that the application of the RSRS policy was not discriminatory.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Rivers: Conservation

the earl of caithness: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to protect the (1) water level, and (2) quality, of chalk streams and rivers.

lord gardiner of kimble: The 25 Year Environment Plan and Abstraction Plan set out the Government’s commitment and actions to protect our water environment and the Environment Bill aims to strengthen this. Abstraction licence changes made by the Environment Agency since 2008 are returning 16 billion litres of water back to chalk streams per year and removed the risk of further 14.9 billion litres being abstracted a year. Further abstraction reductions are planned in the next few years. Additionally, through the Environment Bill the government is taking action to address abstraction that is causing, or is at risk of causing, environmental damage and to remove unused headroom on an abstraction licence where there is no justifiable reason for having it. A programme of habitat restoration is underway in England, including 11 chalk river Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Since 2011 over 70 kilometres of the chalk stream priority habitat has been improved through 60 projects costing £4.3 million including £1.6m partner contributions. Since 2006, Catchment Sensitive Farming has provided grants and advice to help reduce pollution from farms within 68 priority catchments, including chalk streams.

Chilterns: High Speed 2 Railway Line

the earl of caithness: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in order to secure the (1) water level, and (2) quality, of chalk streams, what plans they have to prevent HS2 from using water to tunnel through the Chilterns.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Environment Agency is advising HS2 Ltd and their contractors on mitigating the potential impacts of their works on water level and quality of chalk streams. This includes water usage for tunnelling in the Chilterns. The Environment Agency will review any application for increased abstraction in the Colne catchment in line with the current Colne Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy to ensure that there is no detrimental impact on the environment.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

the earl of caithness: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of unpicked fruit on UK farms due to a lack of labour; and what plans they have to ensure that there is enough labour to pick winter vegetables on UK farms.

lord gardiner of kimble: We know that the horticulture sector requires a high proportion of seasonal workers. The Government introduced a new pilot for 2019 and 2020 enabling up to 2,500 non-European Economic Area migrant workers to come to the UK to undertake seasonal employment in the edible horticultural sector. As of June 2019, pilot operators had recruited all 2,500 workers who continued to arrive in the following months for the harvesting of winter vegetables. This pilot is not designed to meet the full labour needs of the horticultural sector. Rather we are seeking to evaluate the immigration pilot’s ability to assist in alleviating labour shortages during peak production periods. Defra and the Home Office continue to monitor the impact of the seasonal workers pilot and the workforce pressures faced by farmers as we look at how best to support the longer-term needs of industry outside the EU. EU citizens can continue to come to the UK for work in 2019 and 2020 regardless of whether the UK reaches a deal with the EU. This includes for seasonal work on farms. EU citizens arriving after we leave the EU, in a no deal scenario, will need to apply for European Temporary Leave to Remain, granting a further 36 months in the UK if they want to stay after 31 December 2020, which is the deadline for applying to the scheme.

Public Footpaths: Coastal Areas

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are on track to meet their commitment, made in December 2014, that the English Coastal Path will be completed and open in 2020; and if not, what are the reasons for any delays.

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government which sections of the English Coastal Path are now open; and what are the expected opening dates of those sections in each area which are not yet open.

lord gardiner of kimble: Work is well underway on all 66 stretches of the England Coast Path - a new National Trail around all of England’s coast. A European court judgement in April 2018 affected how Natural England could assess the impact of England Coast Path proposals on environmentally protected sites, and progress on the England Coast Path slowed as a result. While this means the path in its entirety is unlikely to be open in 2020, Natural England will work towards opening as much of the England Coast Path as possible throughout 2020. The England Coast Path when completed will stretch approximately 2,717 miles around the coast. To date 385 miles (14%, 12 stretches) have been completed and new rights commenced, with a further 98 miles (4%, 4 stretches) undergoing establishment works before they are open for the public to walk. A summary of progress on each of the 16 open and approved stretches, with opening dates where known, is included in Tables A and B. The 50 unopened stretches are summarised in Table C. It is not currently possible to give estimated opening dates for many of the stretches still in progress. This is because the timeline for the final stages of the process depends on several factors including the number and nature of comments during the public consultation and the complexity of implementing works on the ground.  Table A - Open stretches Stretch nameOpening dateRufus Castle to Lulworth Cove29/06/2012Allonby to Whitehaven11/04/2014North Gare to South Bents12/04/2014Sea Palling to Weybourne12/12/2014Brean Down to Minehead15/03/2016Camber to Folkestone19/07/2016Folkestone to Ramsgate19/07/2016Filey Brigg to Newport Bridge21/07/2016Hopton On Sea to Sea Palling24/10/2016South Bents to Amble26/07/2018Skegness to Mablethorpe27/02/2019Newport Bridge to North Gare18/09/2019  Table B - Unopened stretches undergoing building works Stretch nameOpening dateWalney IslandFebruary 2020 (estimate)Whitehaven to SilecroftTBCRamsgate to WhitstableTBCMaldon to SalcottTBC  Table C - Unopened stretches RegionStretchesSouth West8West4South7South East6Essex8East7North East5North West5

Tobacco: Litter

lord hanningfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessmentthey have made ofthe UK tobacco industry’s contribution to tackling smoking related litter; and whether thatcontribution meets their stated goal of getting thatindustry to play a greater role in addressing such litter.

lord hanningfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated cost of cleaning up smoking related litter in England during the last year.

lord hanningfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussionsthey have had with individual UK tobacco companies about smoking related litter in the last three years.

lord hanningfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received any funding from the UK tobacco industry as part of their national litter campaign.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Government has made no specific assessment of the UK tobacco industry’s contribution to tackling smoking-related litter. The most recent National Litter Survey for England found that 79% of sites surveyed had smoking-related litter present in 2017-18. In the same year, local authorities in England spent £663 million or £28 per household to keep our streets clean, though this does not include spending by other relevant bodies and it is not currently possible to specify how much of this figure is attributable to smoking-related litter.We would like to see the tobacco industry delivering on the commitment given by the Tobacco Manufacturer’s Association (TMA) to tackle the litter created by its products and their users, but this must be achieved without breaching the UK’s international obligations.The tobacco industry has not made, or been invited to make, any financial contribution towards delivery of the “Keep It, Bin It” anti-litter campaign. Ministers have met twice with the TMA in the last three years, but the Government has not held discussions with any individual tobacco companies about smoking-related litter.

Meat: Ritual Slaughter

the earl of shrewsbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their policy on the labelling of meat from the non-stun slaughter of animals.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Government encourages the highest standards of welfare at slaughter, would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, and also respects the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs. There are no domestic or European Regulations that require the labelling of Halal or Kosher meat, but where any information of this nature is provided it must be accurate and must not be misleading to the consumer. The Government expects industry to provide consumers with the necessary information for them to make an informed choice about their food.

Peat Bogs

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impact of the drying of peatlands in the UK.

lord gardiner of kimble: This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. The Government recognises that healthy wet peatlands have many positive environmental benefits, including flood mitigation, terrestrial carbon storage for mitigating climate change, providing habitat for rare wildlife and water purification and regulation. The BEIS Emissions Inventory for UK Peatlands, published in April this year, estimates that annual greenhouse gas emissions from degraded (including drained) peatlands in England are approximately 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2e).

Detergents: Labelling

baroness bennett of manor castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what requirements are placed on producers of domestic cleaning products to list their ingredients on product packaging.

lord gardiner of kimble: Producers of domestic cleaning products are required to make consumers aware of the ingredients of their products through the EU Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation (Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008). Under this Regulation, suppliers of products containing hazardous chemical substances and mixtures are required to provide information on the label to identify any hazardous chemicals, explain what the hazards are and how to avoid them. In addition, under the EU Detergents Regulation (Regulation (EC) No. 648/2004), producers of detergents and cleaning products sold to the general public must also list the product ingredients on labels on product packaging and in ingredient data sheets. Enzymes, disinfectants, optical brighteners, perfumes and preservation agents must be listed on the label irrespective of their concentration. This information must appear in legible, visible and indelible characters on the packaging of detergents and cleaning products which are intended for the consumer. Producers must also prepare a full ingredient data sheet to be made available to medical personnel on request. A less detailed version of the ingredient data sheet must also be placed in the public domain via a website address on the product packaging. This information on ingredients enables consumers to make better informed choices about products. The levels of protection for people and the environment, including labelling requirements for ingredients and ingredient data sheets, will remain at least as high as at present when the UK leaves the EU.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

lord black of brentwood: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the UK will maintain the current EU Wildlife Trade Regulations and therefore remain within the EU’s regulatory Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora framework, following a Brexit withdrawal agreement.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is implemented in the EU through a number of regulations known collectively as the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations (WTR), which put in place a system of permits and certificates for cross-border movement of specimens of endangered species. Under the EU (Withdrawal) Act, the WTR will become retained EU law on exit day. We have made EU Exit regulations to make this retained EU law work in the UK. With regard to a withdrawal agreement, current CITES controls and procedures in place between the UK and EU27 will continue during the implementation period. After EU Exit we will consider on an ongoing basis amendments necessary to continue to meet our obligations under CITIES in a UK context. The UK is a Party to CITIES in its own right, and will remain a Party after EU Exit. The UK will continue to meet the obligations and commitments under CITIES to work toward ensuring that no species becomes extinct as a result of unsustainable trade.

Darwin Initiative

baroness hooper: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much, if any, of the funding announced by the Prime Minister for the Darwin Initiative on 23 September will replace EU funding for wildlife in the Falkland Islands and other Overseas Territories.

lord gardiner of kimble: The funding announced by the Prime Minister on 23 September was for the Darwin Initiative, which supports biodiversity projects in developing countries around the world. The Government provides environmental and biodiversity funding to the British Overseas Territories (OTs) through the separate Darwin Plus (DP) fund. On 10 May 2019, we launched a Call for Evidence on safeguarding the environment in the British OTs. This invited ideas on how the Government can safeguard the OTs’ biodiversity and aims to support the UK’s continued partnership with the OTs in meeting future environmental commitments. We have received a number of in-depth responses to this Call for Evidence, many of which mention both EU funding and DP. These responses will help inform decisions on future funding for environmental and biodiversity protection in the OTs to be made ahead of the next full Spending Review.

Tobacco: Litter

lord hanningfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the tobacco industry operating in the UK is covered by the EU Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging and Packaging Waste and its subsequent revisions; and what assessmentthey have made of the effectiveness of that Directive on addressing smoking-related litter.

lord hanningfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessmentthey have madeof the inclusion of the UK tobacco industry in any extended producer-responsibility regime to address smoking related litter.

lord gardiner of kimble: Tobacco packaging is covered by the current producer responsibility regulations, which require companies to recycle a proportion of the packaging waste they place on the market. They will also be subject to the forthcoming extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging which will cover the full net costs of managing packaging at its end of life, including litter, expected to be introduced in 2023. In the Resources and Waste Strategy, we committed to looking into and consulting on extended producer responsibility for five new waste-streams by 2025, and consulting on two of these by 2022. We have currently identified our five priority waste-streams as: textiles, fishing gear, certain products in construction and demolition, bulky waste, and vehicle tyres. This list is not fixed and does not exclude the potential to review and consult on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for other waste streams if these are identified as being of equal or higher priority. The EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive includes measures to implement an EPR scheme for tobacco products with filters, and filters marketed for use in combination with tobacco products, which should cover the costs of awareness raising, data gathering and litter clean-up of these products. It is the Government’s ambition to use the opportunity of leaving the EU to refresh and renew our environmental policy. An assessment of the legislative work required to transpose the Single-Use Plastics Directive is currently being undertaken.

Fuels: Tax Evasion

lord empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental damage caused in the UKby the illegal laundering of fuel.

lord gardiner of kimble: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Trees: Conservation

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of legal protections for ancient yew trees.

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consult (1) members of the public, (2) civil society organisations, and (3) local authorities, on options for increasing legal protections for ancient yew trees.

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to recognise ancient yew trees as part of the UK’s national heritage.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Government has a manifesto commitment to ensure stronger protection for our ancient woodlands and the irreplaceable nature of ancient woodlands is recognised in our 25 Year Environment Plan. In February 2019 we published the revised National Planning Policy Framework, which strengthens the protection of ancient woodlands by refusing any development that would lead to the deterioration of ancient woodland and ancient or veteran trees, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and a suitable compensation package exists. Whilst we do not distinguish between individual tree species, this now reflects the importance of strengthened protection of ancient woodlands, ancient trees and veteran trees, including ancient yew trees, and is a significant milestone in continuing to strengthen the protection of this irreplaceable habitat. The Government remains committed to making sure that our ancient woodlands are adequately protected and suitably managed to provide a wide range of social, environmental and economic benefits. It was announced in April that the Government would give the Woodland Trust £210,000 to work with Natural England to update the Ancient Woodland Inventory. Having an up-to-date stocktake will make it easier for us all to protect this important habitat and the role it plays in the UK’s national heritage.

Plastics: Fees and Charges

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impact of introducing a 5p charge for plastic clothes hangers.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Government recognises the importance of tackling plastic pollution and addressing the sustainability of the fashion industry, and our Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how we will do this. The Government has not made an assessment of the environmental impact of introducing a 5p charge for plastic clothes hangers, however our reforms set out in the Strategy will help address the issues that they pose. When sold in conjunction with clothing, plastic clothes hangers are classified as packaging items, meaning that they are subject to the current producer responsibility system for packaging waste. This requires obligated businesses to acquire evidence to demonstrate that tonnages equivalent to their individual targets have been recovered and recycled each year. Earlier this year the Government consulted on proposals to reform the current packaging producer responsibility system and intends to bring forward its final proposals for consultation in 2020.

Agriculture: Subsidies

lord morris of aberavon: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byLord Morris of Aberavon on 17 October (HL Deb, col 198), when they will be in a position to reply to the issues raised about agricultural support after Brexit, particularly in relation to Wales.

lord gardiner of kimble: In the Agriculture Bill introduced in the previous session, broadly similar powers were conferred on the Welsh Ministers as on the Secretary of State for England. This was done at the request of the Welsh Ministers and included the powers in clause 11. This means that the Welsh Ministers would have powers to modify retained EU legislation relating to the financing, management and monitoring of Common Agricultural Policy schemes. The Welsh Government have also announced that they will bring forward their own Agriculture Bill in the National Assembly at a later date. The Welsh Government have informed me that this will be preceded by a White Paper, intended to be brought forward during the current Assembly term.

Home Office

Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund

the lord bishop of durham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what guarantee, if any, has been provided to charities and non-governmental organisations who currently receive funding from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund through the UK responsible authority rather than through direct bids to the European Commission.

baroness williams of trafford: All projects under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) will continue to receive funding for the lifetime of their projects, even if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

baroness hayter of kentish town: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the new Alcohol Strategy will be published.

baroness williams of trafford: We are considering the next steps on alcohol policy.We continue to take action to improve local intelligence, establish effective local partnerships and equip police and local authorities with the right powers to take effective action against alcohol-related crime and harms in the night time economy. Current action to tackle alcohol-related harms includes working to address alcohol related domestic abuse through a training package for frontline professionals with the charity Against Violence and Abuse.

British Nationality

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that British citizenship is granted to a stateless person born in the UK who fulfils the conditions of paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the British Nationality Act 1981 but who cannot afford the registration fee.

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of children born each year in the UK without British citizenship to (1) a parent also born in the UK without British citizenship, and (2)to a parent who grew up in this country after being brought to the UK at a young age and has continued to livehere since; and what steps, if any,they are taking to reduce those numbers.

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the fee for a child or young person to register as a British citizen upon people born stateless in the UK.

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that British citizenship is granted to stateless persons born in theUK in accordance with the UK’s obligations under Article 1 of the 1961 UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office has no current plans to specifically review the fees policy applicable to stateless persons applying to register as a British citizen, however the Home Office keeps its fees for immigration and nationality under review.The Home Office has no current plans to produce a specific impact assessment in respect of the fee for a child or young person born stateless to register as a British citizen. An assessment of the impact of all border, immigration and citizenship (BIC) fees was published as an associated document to the Immigration and Nationality Fees (Regulation) 2018. In response to a recommendation from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration the Department will consider publication of fee-related Policy Equality Statements on a case by case basis going forward.Statistics on the UK’s resident population and on births by nationality of parent are a matter for the Office for National Statistics.The Home Office stateless leave policy is designed to assist those who are unable to return to their country of former habitual residence because they are stateless and no longer have a right of residence there. This also reflects our obligations under the UN Stateless Conventions by providing a means for stateless persons in the UK to access their basic human rights and is part of our efforts to address wider global issues facing stateless persons. Leave to remain applications to stay in the UK as a stateless person are free of charge.There are citizenship routes for children who are born in the UK: if their parent becomes British or settled, or if they live in the UK for the first ten years of their life. In addition there are provisions for stateless children which allow us to meet our obligations under the 1961 Convention.

British Nationality: Children

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what impact assessments they haveconducted into the statutory good character requirement for childrenwho register as British citizens; and whether they have undertaken any assessment of that requirement's impact on (1) children’s best interests, (2) race discrimination, and (3) race relations.

baroness williams of trafford: The good character requirement for children was subject to parliamentary scrutiny when it was introduced by Section 58 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. It has also been the subject of inspection by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI). In response to recommendations in his 2017 report a number of adjustments were made to the policy clarifying that a child’s best interests must be taken into account when considering an application for registration as a British citizen. Updated guidance to reflect these changes was published in January 2019.In addition, the good character requirement was the subject of a Policy Equality Statement, demonstrating compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty, when the British Nationality Act 1981 (Remedial) Order 2019 was laid.

British Nationality: Children and Young People

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the fee for a child or young person to register as a British citizen on their fulfilment of the UK’s obligations under Article 1 of the 1961 UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

baroness williams of trafford: Neither the 1961 UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness or the 1954 Convention relating to the status of stateless persons prohibit fees from being chargeable in respect of citizenship applications. The Home Office does, however, waive fees for stateless individuals up to the point of settlement (indefinite leave to remain) in line with our obligations.The Home Office has no current plans to specifically review the policy applicable to stateless persons applying to register as a British citizen, however the Home Office keeps its fees for immigration and nationality under review.

Demonstrations: Seized Articles

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government under what powers the police may confiscate camping equipment, food, solar panels, portable lavatories and litter bins, which are being stored in connection with planned demonstrations; and whether thepolice are required to keep a record of such items thatare seized, and to store them in appropriate conditions.

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is any recourse for the owners of items that are damaged when the police remove them from the site of demonstrations; and whether the owners of such items can reclaim them from the police.

baroness williams of trafford: Police have powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and Common Law to seize and retain property that is believed to be evidence of an offence.Once seized, the property may be retained for no longer than is necessary for use as evidence at a trial, for forensic examination or for investigation in connection with an offence or to establish the rightful owner of the property. To ensure the property is admissible as evidence, police need to keep an accurate record of its seizure and retention and safe keeping to establish the chain of evidence.Owners may obtain independent legal advice if they wish to make a claim against police for damage to their property. Free advice can be sought from a Law Centre or Citizens Advice (CA). If a person wishes to claim property seized by the police, they may also apply to a magistrate’s court under the Police (Property) Act 1897 for its possession.

Asylum: Greece

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to evacuatecritically ill children from Greece whose access to adequate and timely healthcare services in that country is obstructed by their migrant status.

baroness williams of trafford: This is a matter for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. My team has passed it on to the FCO to respond to you.

Exploitation: Ethnic Groups

baroness afshar: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the response byBaroness Williams of Trafford toBaroness Kennedy of Cradley's oral question on 22 October, what plans they have to establish, as points of contact for minority women who are at risk of exploitation, specific individuals who are familiar with the cultural practices of minority ethnic groups.

baroness williams of trafford: The Ministry of Justice provides funding to specialist sexual violence services to support victims to cope and, where possible, recover from the impact of crime. On 18 September, we announced an additional £5m to support victims of sexual violence, which commits £32m over three years.In addition, local Commissioners (be they Police and Crime Commissioners, Local Authorities or health commissioners) will also seek to provide specialist support to victims in their area. To support this, in December 2016 we published the National Statement of Expectations, which sets out a blueprint for local service provision, including how Commissioners can best respond to the needs of minority or marginalised groups.In 2016/17 MHCLG also provided £300k to Imkaan to build capacity and strengthen specialist BAME organisations, including through training, quality standard accreditation and access to the tools they need to measure their impact.On 18th September we appointed Nicole Jacobs as the first Designate Domestic Abuse Commissioner, who will raise awareness of domestic abuse, stand up for victims, and drive up consistency in the response to domestic abuse. The Commissioner is required to appoint a specific thematic lead within her office to consider and address the needs of BAME victims.We are also exploring ways to improve support for BAME victims as part of our work to tackle racial disparity in the Criminal Justice System.

Police: Ethnic Groups

baroness afshar: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of current police officers are from BAME backgrounds; and what assessment they have made of how familiar police officers are with the cultural practices of the communities they are policing.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office collects and publishes information on the ethnicity of police officers on an annual basis in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.The latest data show that, as at 31 March 2019, there were 8,329 BAME police officers in the 43 forces in England and Wales, representing 6.9% of all officers who stated their ethnicity.Police professional training standards are set and maintained by the College of Policing which the Government established as the first professional body for the police in 2012.



Police Workforce England and Wales - March 2019 
(PDF Document, 1.67 MB)

Police Stations: Closures

baroness corston: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many police stations have closed in each county in England and Wales since 2010.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office does not hold information centrally on the amount of police station closures across England and Wales.Decisions on the use of resources, including police stations, are a matter for Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables as they best understand the needs of the communities they serve.The Government has taken the unprecedented step to recruit 20,000 new officers over the next three years. This is in addition to the £1 billion increase in police funding this year as a result of the 2019/20 Police Funding settlement, including money raised through council tax and the serious violence funding.

Immigrants: Detainees

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many immigration detainees were held for more than 28 days in each of the last four years.

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the longest time in days an individual has been detained for immigration reasons (1) among current detainees, and (2) in the last four years.

baroness williams of trafford: Information on the length of detention, of those in and on leaving detention is available in tables dt_06_q and dt_14,q of the detention tables in the latest release of ‘Immigration Statistics, year ending June 2019’.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/826057/detention-jun-2019-tables.ods



Detention Tables - Immigration Stats - June 2019 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 5.3 MB)

Immigrants: Detainees

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of those released from immigration detention in the last four years (1) are still in the UK, and (2) have been returned to their country of origin.

baroness williams of trafford: The requested information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Members: Surveillance

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to sanction intelligence gathering and surveillance of Members of Parliament.

baroness williams of trafford: We have no specific plans in this area. The Investigatory Powers Act 2016, and some parts for the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, provide the framework for the use of intelligence gathering and surveillance capabilities by the UK Intelligence Community and law enforcement agencies.

Electric Scooters: Road Traffic Offences

lord blencathra: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they intend to have with the police to enforce the prohibition against two-wheeled battery-operated scooters using pavements and highways.

baroness williams of trafford: Enforcement of road traffic law is an operational matter for individual Chief Officers of police in conjunction with local policing plans. We will continue to support the police to ensure they have the tools needed to enforce road traffic legisaltion including those relating to electric scooters.

Firearms: Licensing

baroness finlay of llandaff: To ask Her Majesty's Government who is responsible for ensuring that all those involved in the sale and purchase of guns are medically fit to hold a licence to be in control of firearms intended for sale; and how is the information about any concerns shared between different areas of jurisdiction.

baroness williams of trafford: The police are responsible for assessing the suitability of those who seek to be registered as a firearms dealer or to be issued with a firearm or shotgun certificate, including their medical suitability, to ensure the safety of the public. When applying to be registered as a firearms dealer, a person who is not already a firearm or shotgun certificate holder must provide details of their doctor and disclose any relevant physical or mental health conditions that they have been diagnosed with or treated for in the past for consideration by the police.When seeking to be registered as a firearms dealer a person must apply to their local police force, who will consider the application and carry out the necessary checks to assess the applicant’s suitability.A consultation on the introduction of statutory firearms guidance to the police, including in relation to the medical arrangements, closed on 17 September. The responses are being considered and the Government will publish a response in due course.

Action Fraud: Telephone Services

lord robathan: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the average number of calls that the Action Fraud helpline receives daily.

baroness williams of trafford: This information is not held by the Home Office.

Human Trafficking: Essex

lord roberts of llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in response to the deaths of 39 people discovered in a Bulgarian container lorry on 23 October.

baroness williams of trafford: As my Right Honourable Friend the Home Secretary set out in her statement of 28 October, all areas of Government have a role to play in strengthening our borders, eliminating the pull factors in this country and addressing the root causes to suppress demand for illegal migration.The Government already has an illegal migration strategy in place, but as the tragic event in Essex has shown, there is much more to do.We will be working across Government to strengthen our response to the migration crisis that led these victims to try to enter the United Kingdom and to confront the organised criminals who drive this abhorent practice.

Asylum: Death

lord roberts of llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people seeking sanctuary in the UK have died either at sea or on land in each year since 2014.

baroness williams of trafford: The death of any individual attempting to travel to the United Kingdom whether at sea or in a vehicle on land is a tragic event. No-one should be risking their life in an attempt to enter the UK in such dangerous ways, and the Home Office continues to work with international partners to tackle the organised criminal gangs who are coordinating such attempts. Those who need international protection claim asylum in the first safe country they reach, as that is the fastest route to safety.It is not possible to ascertain the motives of individuals seeking to travel to the UK, whether to seek sanctuary or otherwise. However, this Government is determined to support those who genuinely need protection and through our resettlement schemes, we are making sure our doors remain open to the people who most need our help.

Asylum: Death

lord roberts of llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how asylum seekers who die in the UK are returned to their country of origin.

baroness williams of trafford: There are no specific procedures for asylum seekers.The burial or cremation arrangements of any person who had had recently arrived from abroad would depend on the circumstances, for example the wishes of their relatives or friends, or the relevant national embassy.If there are no relatives or others to assist, the relevant local authority would have a duty to ensure that the deceased is buried or cremated respectfully..

Deportation: Young People

lord roberts of llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to prevent teenagers being deported back to a country which has been deemed unsafe to travel to, when they have lived in the UK for a decade or more.

baroness williams of trafford: We have a policy not to remove anyone, regardless of their age or the length of time they have lived in the UK, to a country to which it has been deemed unsafe for them to return.

Human Trafficking

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to use thermal imaging cameras at all UK ports to check for incidents of human trafficking.

baroness williams of trafford: Border Force deploys a range of detection equipment across the UK border to detect incidents of human trafficking but, for national security reasons, does not comment on the specific technology used.Border Force are continually seeking to develop and invest in new capability.

Internet: Fraud

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps theyare taking to prevent online and digital fraud.

baroness williams of trafford: The Government is working with industry to close down the vulnerabilities that fraudsters exploit. This is a shared endeavour between government, regulators, law enforcement and the private sector, with the Joint Fraud Taskforce (JFT) leading work to tackle the fraud threat collectively.On 14 September new rules under the second Payment Services Directive, known as Strong Customer Authentication, came into effect. These rules set out how banks and payment services providers verify their customers' identity or validate specific payment instructions. These measures will strengthen the authentication of electronic payments and help to limit Card Not Present fraud. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have agreed to give firms up to 18 months to fully implement the Strong Customer Authentication rules.The industry-led Confirmation of Payee scheme is due to be introduced in early 2020. This scheme will make it harder for fraudsters to trick victims into sending money by impersonating a legitimate organisation. The scheme will check that names on accounts match those of the intended recipient and provide the customer with a warning where it does not.The National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) Active Cyber Defence (ACD) initiative aims to protect the UK from high-volume commodity attacks that affect people’s everyday lives. ACD seeks to protect people in the UK from the harm caused by online attacks. The NCSC has delivered advice and guidance to the UK economy and wider society, and tools like ACD are designed to stop many malicious emails and links from reaching their targets.The Government continues to boost the law enforcement capabilities of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU), supported by dedicated funding for specialist cyber units in all 43 local forces.The Government is also undertaking a Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) review led by Sir Craig Mackey QPM. The review will cover the powers, capabilities, governance and effectiveness of funding across the policing and law enforcement landscape, including the NCA and the wider justice system, and will make recommendations that should be delivered through the 2020 spending review to strengthen the SOC system.

Immigration: EU Nationals

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have refunded all of the fees for applications for settled status received before 1 April.

baroness williams of trafford: We have processed refunds for all those charged a fee for the EU settlement scheme prior to 1st April 2019. Where circumstances have changed with regards to the recipient’s payment details these are being investigated on a case by case basis.

Unexplained Wealth Orders

lord rooker: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been subject to an Unexplained Wealth Order since their inception, broken down by nationality; and what are the names of those people.

baroness williams of trafford: 15 unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) have been made on 4 cases. There are 3 orders in one case which relates to an Azerbaijan national, Zamira Hajiyeva. The other 3 cases concern a non EEA national,an Englishman and a Northern Irish woman.

Human Rights

lord rooker: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been subject to proceedings under the (1) Criminal Finances Act 2017, and (2) Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, on the grounds of gross human rights abuse or violations, up to the latest date for which figures are available.

baroness williams of trafford: There have been no proceedings under the provisions in the Criminal Finances Act 2017 relating to gross human rights abuses.The Sanctions Act gives the UK powers to impose autonomous sanctions, however secondary legislation is required to establish individual sanctions regimes. Officials are currently working to design secondary legislation for a global human rights sanctions regime, which we have announced an intention to establish once we leave the EU. It is only once the secondary legislation is in force that we can impose sanctions on designated persons and announce those designations.

Death: Russia

lord rooker: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byLord Rooker on 27 June 2017 (HL Deb, cols 399–401), what current investigations, if any, are taking place in relation to the deaths of(1) Scot Young, (2) Boris Berezovsky, (3) Stephen Moss, (4) Badri Patarkatsishvili, (5) Stephen Curtis, (6) Yuri Golubev, (7) Paul Castle, (8) Robert Curtis, (9) Johnny Elichaoff, (10) Alexander Litvinenko, (11) Matthew Puncher, (12) Igor Ponomarev, (13) Daniel McGrory, (14) Gareth Williams, and (15) Alexander Perepilichnyy.

baroness williams of trafford: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Human Trafficking

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to implementadditional measures to detect people smuggling throughUK ports, including the use of X-rays.

baroness williams of trafford: At the juxtaposed controls and at ports around the country, Border Force officers use some of the most advanced detection technology available to find and stop migrants attempting to reach the UK illegally. We have also invested tens of millions of pounds in new infrastructure to enhance border security. All freight vehicles entering the UK through the juxtaposed controls are screened for people being smuggled into the UK using a range of techniques. This includes using carbon dioxide detectors and motion sensors as well as sniffer dogs to detect clandestine on-board lorries.We will continue to monitor closely displacement of the threat to other ports and routes into the UK and are prepared to shift more resources to UK ports, whilst working proactively with European law enforcement, including partners in France, Belgium and Holland, to target the organised crime networks behind people trafficking and illegal migration.

Police: Labour Turnover

lord birt: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of police officer recruits remain in the police for two years or more.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office collects and publishes information on the length of service of police officers on an annual basis in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.As at 31 March 2019, 88% of officers had been in the police service for two years or more.

Hate Crime: Disability

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 28 October(HL137), what plans they have specifically in relation to hate crime towards disabled people.

baroness williams of trafford: The Hate Crime Action Plan 2016 included a number of commitments toaddress disability hate crime. These commitments were:To look at current best practice examples in tackling disability hate crime and work with partner organisations and the police to promote safety for disabled people.To continue to work with community groups to raise awareness of hate crime among disabled people and increasing the availability of third party reporting venues, in particular at locations and through services that are used by disabled people.The police will lead work with partners and disabled people’s groups to develop resources targeted to raise awareness of hate crime among carers and families of disabled people to encourage reporting.The National Policing Lead to assess proactive recording pilots to see if there is anything to be learned that will increase the recording of disability hate crime.In October 2018, the Government published a refresh of the Action Plan, which included the following further commitments on disability hate crime:Department for Transport committed, in the July 2018 Inclusive Transport Strategy, to run a public awareness raising campaign to increase disability awareness amongst all transport passengers.Continue to help the charity representing people with disfigurement, Changing Faces, in its work with social media companies.The Department of Health and Social Care is leading a long-term study of the impact of integrated support for people with learning disabilities, including on the occurrence of disability hate crime.Work with community groups to raise awareness of disability hate crime, and consider the best options for third party reporting centres for disabled people. We will work with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, and others, to understand where these services already exist, and how best we can promote their availability.Increase and broaden our engagement with stakeholders representing disabled people.Draw from ongoing doctoral research into police responses to learning disability hate crime underway at the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth.The 2018 Hate Crime Action Plan refresh also includes a number of broader actions addressing all forms of hate crime, including disability hate crime. These include:Publication of the Online Harms White Paper, which sets out plans hold social media companies to greater account;A review by the Law Commission into the coverage and approach of current hate crime legislation; andA wide-ranging national hate crime communications campaign to publicly address hate crime and make clear that it is unacceptable to target people on the basis of their identity.

Immigration

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the projected figures for UK net migration in the next five years; and what assessment they have made, or intend to make, of the cost to the UK of any fall in migration.

baroness williams of trafford: Information on projections of net migration under different scenarios, is published by the Office for National Statistics, as part of UK population projections. The Government’s immigration White Paper, the UK’s Future Skills-Based Immigration System, includes an economic appraisal of potential impacts of a reduction in EU work-related migration.

Drugs Independent Review

lord rennard: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect Dame Carol Black’s review of drugs policy to be published.

baroness williams of trafford: We anticipate that Dame Carol Black’s Review of Drugs will report its findings to the Home Secretary in the autumn and the Home Secretary will report back to Parliament after that.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government, followingthe report of the Public Inquiry into the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14June2017 Grenfell Tower Inquiry:Phase 1 Report, published on 30 October, when they plan to introduce new fire safety legislation.

baroness williams of trafford: The Government accepts, in principle, all the recommendations made of central Government in Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry’s Phase One report and will work at pace to take these forward. This may include bringing forward legislation ahead of the Bill on building safety standards announced in the Queen’s Speech if that would mean the Inquiry’s recommendations can be implemented sooner.We are currently analysing responses to our Call for Evidence on the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and intend to publish a formal response after the General Election.

Police: Re-employment

lord trefgarne: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to re-employing recently retired police officers as part of their plans to increase the number of such officers by 20,000.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing to support successful recruitment in all forces, to meet the Government’s commitment to increase the number of police officers by an additional 20,000 over the next three years. This work includes attracting former officers who may wish to re-join following resignation or retirement, as well as maximising opportunities to retain those who have important skills and policing experience.

Refugees: France

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of France about police brutality towards refugees in Northern France, in particular about any incidents on 24 October near Calais; and whether such behaviour is consistent with the Sandhurst Agreement.

baroness williams of trafford: The actions of French police and security personnel remain the domestic responsibility of the French government, and as such the UK is unable to comment on their actions. Those who are moved on from camps are provided with the option of transport to asylum centres where their claims can be lodged and considered expediently. Within these centres, individuals are provided with any medical and administrative support they require. The Sandhurst Treaty and associated funding has supported this work. The UK and France will continue to collaborate in response to this issue, ensuring that the necessary support is delivered whilst upholding border security at our shared border.

Asylum: Domestic Abuse

lord sheikh: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of people seeking asylum in the UK are doing so because they are fleeing domestic violence.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office does not record the information in such a way that allows us to report on what percentage of people seeking asylum in the UK are doing so because they are fleeing domestic violence.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Customs: Northern Ireland

lord empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) how, and (2) which, goods and agricultural productswill be treated differently (a) in, and (b) from, Northern Ireland as a result of Northern Ireland (i) remaining in the EU Single Market, and (ii) implementing EU Customs protocols, as outlined in the latest EU Withdrawal Agreement.

lord callanan: In the new Northern Ireland/Ireland Protocol, Northern Ireland will only be aligning with those EU rules on goods necessary to remove the need for regulatory checks at the land border. Goods and agricultural products entering Northern Ireland will need to be compliant with the rules of the regulatory zone. Northern Ireland will remain in the UK customs territory but will apply EU customs rules, which are well understood by businesses in Northern Ireland that already trade with the Rest of the World.The Government has made clear commitments to ensure unfettered access for Northern Ireland businesses to the whole UK internal market. Some practical information will need to be provided electronically on movement of goods West-East, but Northern Ireland will have tariff-free access to the whole UK market.

Brexit: Northern Ireland

lord empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultation they undertook in regard to Northern Ireland's interests before finalising the latest the EU Withdrawal Agreement.

lord callanan: The department has engaged extensively with representatives of businesses, industry groups and trade unions from Northern Ireland. This includes through the government’s Alternative Arrangements Business Advisory Group and Technical Advisory Group. Ministers are continuing to engage with representatives from all sectors of the Northern Ireland economy.We also liaised extensively with Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Police Service of Northern Ireland as we developed the UK’s negotiating position on the NI border.

European Economic Area and European Free Trade Association

lord anderson of ipswich: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 17 January (HL12669) and the Written Statement byLord Callanan on 20 December 2018 (HLWS1187), whether (1) the text of the EEA EFTA Separation Agreement has been amended since 20 December 2018, and (2) the EEA EFTA Separation Agreement has been signed by the UK;if so, when; whetherthe EEA EFTA Separation Agreement is subject to section 20 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010; andwhether a copy of the EEA EFTA Separation Agreement has been laid before Parliament by a Minister of the Crown within the meaning of section 20(1)(a) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

lord callanan: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Treasury

Coinage

lord hannay of chiswick: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many 50p coins were minted to mark the exit of the UK from the EU on (1) 29 March, and (2) 31 October; what was the cost of those operations; and what has been done with the coins so minted.

the earl of courtown: Approximately 1 million coins were minted in October to mark the UK’s exit from the European Union, in addition to 1,000 trial coins that were struck before March 29. Coins bearing these dates will now be recycled and the value from the materials will be recouped by the Exchequer. The cost of minting these coins is commercially sensitive.

Politics and Government

lord bird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) formally recognise, and (2) protect, the interests of future generations.

the earl of courtown: I refer my noble friend to the answer given to him on 28 October 2019 in response to Question HL10.

Coinage

lord myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many 50p coins to commemorate Brexit on 31 October have been minted.

the earl of courtown: Approximately 1 million coins were minted in October to mark the UK’s exit from the European Union. Coins bearing this date will now be recycled and the value from the materials will be recouped by the Exchequer.

Banks: Russia

lord rooker: To ask Her Majesty's Government what oversight UK financial regulators have of the subsidiaries of the five main Russian banks subject to EU Council Regulation 833/2014.

the earl of courtown: The FCA is responsible for the regulation of the financial services sector and is operationally independent from Government. This question relates to the FCA and has been passed on to them. The FCA will reply directly to Lord Rooks by letter and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Brexit

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the long-term economic benefit of leaving the EU with the new Brexit deal.

the earl of courtown: The Withdrawal Agreement agreed with the EU ensures that we leave the EU in a smooth and orderly way, and will provide certainty for businesses and the economy. Leaving the Customs Union and Single Market allows the UK to pursue an ambitious FTA with the EU as sovereign equals, as well as striking trade deals with other international partners. The specifics of our future trading relationship with the EU will be the subject of the next phase of the negotiations. We will keep Parliament updated throughout the next phase of the negotiations and provide analysis at appropriate points. The OBR will, of course, continue to take Government policy – including the UK’s future relationship with the EU – as the basis for its economic and fiscal forecasts, and will provide its usual comprehensive analysis as part of these.

*No heading*

lord hanningfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether alltobacco product packaging, including cigarette filters, will be subject to their proposed tax on plastic packaging.

lord hanningfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of litter caused by vaping, in particular the plastic pods; and whether e-cigarette and other vaping related products will be subject to their proposed tax on plastic packaging.

the earl of courtown: As announced at Budget 2018, from April 2022 the government will be introducing a new tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled plastic. In spring 2019, the government consulted on the high level design of the tax and a summary of responses was published in July. These responses are being used to inform the detailed design of the tax including the definition of packaging, which will be included in legislation that is due to be introduced next year. Where tobacco product packaging, cigarette filters, e-cigarettes and other vaping related products meet the definition of plastic packaging, and contain insufficient recycled plastic, they will be subject to the tax. The government has made no specific assessment of the impact of litter caused by vaping. Litter specifically associated with vaping has never appeared in the top 20 litter types, according to independent national surveys carried out by Keep Britain Tidy.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Think Tanks: Finance

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to require think tanks based in the UK to be transparent about their funding sources.

baroness barran: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Advertising Standards Authority

baroness hayter of kentish town: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over its role in enforcing any judgment it makes; what consideration they have given to moving the ASA onto a statutory basis; and what research they have undertaken on the impact of the ASA on consumers, particularly in cases where complaints are upheld.

baroness barran: Advertising in the UK is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which enforces the Advertising Codes through a system of self-regulation and co-regulation with Ofcom. This regulatory system is independent of government and is ultimately responsible for setting the standards in advertising. The Advertising Codes incorporate all relevant legislation and set standards for accuracy and honesty to which advertisers must adhere, including specific conditions on advertising to children, causing offence and social responsibility. The Codes are regularly reviewed and updated by the industry to ensure they remain effective, and proposed changes to the Codes are routinely subject to public consultation. UK broadcasters are required by a condition of their broadcast licences to enforce ASA rulings, and any who refuse to comply with these rulings risk being referred to Ofcom, which can impose fines and even withdraw broadcast licences. In non-broadcast media, the ASA has a range of sanctions it can take in cases of non-compliance, and as a last resort can refer advertisers to Trading Standards, where there has been a breach of consumer law. That said, we recognise that online advertising presents a number of unique challenges, which is why we announced a review earlier this year, which will consider this system in the round.

Broadband: Finance

the duke of montrose: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the proportion of the £500 million for broadband extension, announced on 28 October, that will be required by each of the nations of the UK; and what contribution could still be required by local authorities.

the duke of montrose: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the £500 million for broadband extension, announced on 28 October, will be ringfenced; and whether beneficiaries of the funding will be required to publicise the source of that funding.

baroness barran: The announcement on 28 October 2019 was the Ministerial Statement to Parliament in respect of the Government’s in-principle support for a Shared Rural Network (SRN) Programme, announced on 25th October 2019. The SRN is a proposal from the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to collectively increase 4G mobile coverage throughout the United Kingdom to 95% by 2025, underpinned by a legally binding coverage commitment from each operator to have reached more than 92% by 2026. The Government’s in-principle support remains subject to detailed negotiations with the MNOs, but our ambition is to reach a final agreement on the SRN early next year.Crucially, the benefits will be felt across all four nations with the SRN extending coverage from each operator to a minimum of 85% in Scotland, 86% in Wales and 91% in Northern Ireland and 91% in England by 2026, although we expect the actual outcomes to be higher Industry is contributing £530 million to address partial not-spots (areas where there is currently only coverage from at least one but not all four MNOs). In addition, subject to reaching a final agreement, the Government will invest £500 million to provide new digital infrastructure in total not-spot areas (areas of market failure where no operators are present today). This £500 million will be funded from central Government, for the purposes set out in the business case for the Shared Rural Network. As this funding is state aid, it will require the approval of the European Commission or, depending on the circumstances of EU exit, the Competition and Markets Authority. The £500 million funding from Government does not assume any contributions from the devolved administrations or from local authorities. However, support from both the devolved administration and local authorities will be crucial to the success of the programme - particularly in relation to planning approvals for new sites or site upgrades. Officials in central Government have had detailed conversations about the SRN proposal with their devolved counterparts, and will continue to engage with them regularly over the coming months. The UK has a vibrant telecoms industry, and we are keen that this programme reflects that. The programme will be delivered jointly by all four MNOs however, it is expected that organisations across the industry will have the opportunity to get involved in the delivery of the programme, as grant beneficiaries, by competing to build the required infrastructure, in an open, fair and transparent way. Beneficiaries will be required to report on their funding in line with the usual process for publishing their own accounts. Further details will be made available as the programme progresses.

Internet: Disinformation

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to work with (1) website providers, and (2) social media providers, to ban image-based abuse made using deepfake technology.

baroness barran: The Online Harms White Paper sets out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. We intend to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. Ahead of the implementation of the new regulatory framework, we continue to work closely with companies to encourage them to take early action to address online harms. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Ministry of Justice have also engaged the Law Commission on a second phase of their review of abusive and offensive online communications. As part of this the Law Commission will also look at the criminal law around the non-consensual taking and sharing of intimate images. This includes the creation and sharing of deepfake images. The review will look at existing offences and identify whether there are any gaps in the scope of the protection already offered to victims, making recommendations to ensure that the criminal law provides consistent and effective protection against the creation and sharing of intimate images without consent.

Mayflower: Anniversaries

earl attlee: To ask Her Majesty's Government which (1) Department, and (2) ministers, are responsible for organising the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower.

baroness barran: The commemorations for the 400th Mayflower anniversary are being organised by a partnership of organisations called the Mayflower 400, who are ultimately responsible for organising and delivering the commemorations. UK Government, primarily through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), has provided some financial support to the Mayflower 400’s programme. This is demonstrated by the £750,000 funding that DCMS has provided through VisitEngland, which will help to ensure a strong legacy for the commemorations. In 2015, DCMS provided £35,000 to invest in the Mayflower museum and in 2019, DCMS awarded £3.5m through the Cultural Development Fund for digital product development.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Females

lord bradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether gym clothing is available to all women prisoners who request it in every prison in England.

lord keen of elie: Gym clothing is available for women who request it in all prisons in England. A new range of gym kit has recently been approved following consultation with managers and women in the public sector estate.

Solicitors: Training

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that the solicitor profession remains accessible to all applicants.

lord keen of elie: Under the framework established by the Legal Services Act 2007, the legal profession in England and Wales is independent from government. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is responsible for authorising, and setting the qualifications standards for, solicitors in England and Wales. Following the publication of the Legal Education and Training Review, the Legal Services Board issued statutory guidance on regulatory arrangements for education and training in 2014, and all the legal services regulators reviewed their arrangements. Subject to the approval of the Legal Services Board, the Solicitors Regulation Authority is planning to introduce a new Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) from September 2021. It is hoped that the flexibility and projected lower costs of the SQE will help attract a more diverse range of candidates.

Women and Equalities

Equal Pay

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to ensure that companies publish their action plans for closing the gender pay gap.

baroness williams of trafford: The Gender Pay Gap among all employees in the UK continues to decline, currently at a record low of 17.3%. This year, mandatory reporting regulations have seen over 10,000 employers report their gender pay gap for the second time, with around half of all employers in-scope of the regulations publishing action plans. To close the gap entirely we need a much wider cultural change, which can’t be imposed from above. We strongly encourage all employers to publish action plans, prompting discussions about the drivers of the pay gap in their organisations. To support employers, we have published advice on how to diagnose their gaps and develop an effective action plan, alongside evidence-based guidance on practical actions they can take to close the gap. We actively disseminate this guidance to employers throughout the year to ensure they have the information they need to create an action plan. This position is kept under review. If we do not think that employers are making enough progress, we will act.